This clinical trial focuses on helping African Americans with high blood pressure to manage their disease. The study will target their ability to read and understand health information (also called health literacy). The research method relies on community participation in equal partnership with the researchers to provide interactive workshops and home blood pressure self-monitoring with the assistance of telephone counseling by community health workers.

Weekly 2-hour sessions over 6 weeks followed by 12 month follow-up with home blood pressure self monitoring with telephone counseling by community health workers.

Placebo Comparator: Delayed intervention control

Behavioral: Delayed Intervention Control

Given pamphlets on the importance of high blood pressure control and offered weekly workshops. This group will be offered the intervention at the conclusion of data collection.

Detailed Description:

The purpose of this study is to develop a culturally sensitive intervention focused on health literacy that is designed to reduce high blood pressure (HBP) in a vulnerable African American (AA) population. A community-based participatory research approach delivered by community health workers (CHW) will be used to address the following specific aims: Aim 1. To examine the effect of health literacy on self-care skills, including HBP knowledge, adherence to HBP and substance abuse treatment recommendations, communication skills, health care utilization, and BP outcomes in AAs with HBP. Aim 2. To conduct a pilot randomized, controlled trial with a delayed intervention control group to test the effectiveness of a health literacy-focused self-help HBP intervention program using CHWs in 100 AAs who reside in Baltimore City.

Psychiatric diagnosis precluding participation, such as schizophrenia or cognitive impairment as measured by Mini-Mental State Exam (score < 24)

Contacts and Locations

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To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the Contacts provided below.
For general information, see Learn About Clinical Studies.

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT01389037